Oh, For the Love of
by FollowMeDown
Summary: Space can get very lonely. Sometimes, even the most hardened warriors fall in love with the people they least expect to. One-shot. Unusual pairings ?


A lot of Mass Effect stuff from me now, eh? I'm really trying to see if I can peg the characters down, to be honest, and for the most part playing with different styles of writing. I haven't been doing a very good job of that lately, and it's really pissing me off. But, I have come to a conclusion that--forgive, this is perhaps a very vain thing to say--my writing skill is exceptional, considering that I'm thirteen. Moving back to what actually matters, here's another drabble, which I spent far more time on than the first one. Odd pairings involved. The product of my mind, which finds the strangest things cute. This one's short, and it skips around quite a bit...something I actually find I dis-like about this. Probably won't be trying to write two characters accounts at once any time soon again. xD

Disclaimer: Yes, yes, legal stuff here. I do not own or claim to own any copyrighted material including Mass Effect and its trademarks.

Wrex didn't like Williams. Williams didn't like Wrex. But they both weren't fond of Garrus, and this was their common ground.

There was no real reason that Williams wasn't fond of Garrus. In general, she was a bit of a xenophobe, and dis-liked having aliens aboard the Normandy in any event. The Turians attitude was something that she also found herself thoroughly annoyed with. So calm, so gung-ho about getting the mission done. It didn't matter who died along the way. As long as it was all done with in the end. Wrex she found to be only slightly more bearable. The Krogan was a take-charge kinda guy, often dis-obeying Shepards direct orders--something that Williams did not agree with in the least. The commander was a bit foggy-headed sometimes, sure. But Wrex just took things to the extreme, shooting people at will. It was a wonder that Shepard hadn't gotten rid of him already. Perhaps the war hero was going soft after all, as she had overheard the Krogan say to the Quarian several times. That was something else she didn't like. Tali was a sweet girl, but she seemed to have a penchant for attracting rough characters like Wrex. Sometimes, she even sought him out. It was beyond her comprehension, truly. Of all the times she had talked to the Quarian about this matter, she never seemed to listen. A particular run-in with both Wrex and Garrus had ended awfully, one day, and later that day, Tali had been the only one to know of it, offering the best support that she could for the Chief.

"I'd rather kiss a Turian," She had said, not thinking that there were others beside the Commander who could hear her. She and the Commander had spoken for a little while longer, before the Commander had to leave. As soon as the elevator doors slid closed, carrying their Spectre out of earshot, Wrex came in for a jab.

"You'd rather kiss a Turian, huh? That's a risky move, Williams," The chief had opened her mouth for a retort, before promptly swinging her jaw closed with an audible click. He was right, once she thought about it. Her hardened gaze settled upon the Turian just barely visible, covered by the Mako, and softened slightly. Well...Turians did have quite the set of chompers on them. Someone like Garrus would probably bit her lips clean off on accident. "You sure you want to do that?"

"Better than kissing a Krogan, I guess," She shot back, gaze hardening again as she re-directed her stare towards the scarred Krogan. He too had a set of chompers on him...And at this point, Gunnery chief Ashley Williams realized that there was quite the glint in the Krogan's eye, one she had only seen a few times before, and one that she knew to dread. Somehow...she had really gotten herself into deep shit here.

Williams' head swung to the side, and she found herself face to face--or rather, at her height, face to chest--with the Turian himself, Garrus Vakarian. The inquisitive look that rested upon the Turians sharp, avian features made her uneasy. It was not easy to discern the emotions of a Turian, and the fact that she could pick out such a creatures emotions even just a little bit more proficiently was cause enough to make her worry. She would have to stop looking at Garrus for a while.

"I am not familiar with this kissing. Could you tell me what it is, Chief?" Wrex let out a deeply amused chuckle, to which Ashley responded with a glare. How, it began to cross her mind, could a Turian not know what kissing was? She was unsure as to whether or not Turians did kiss one another, but the Asari sometimes took Turians as their 'mates', didn't they? And the Asari were built a lot like a human woman, including their lips. While she truly doubted that Garrus could have been leading such a sheltered life all this time, she gave in with an exasperated sigh, and did her very best to explain the art of lip-locking to the Turian.

"...I don't think I understand, Chief,"

"I've explained this five times already, Garrus!" The Turian looked genuinely apologetic as she raised her voice. His facial features shifted in the most minute of ways, and Williams, still disturbed that she could understand so many of his facial features, thought him to be...sad. He slouched slightly, and trotted off back to his corner of the cargo bay with a tiny 'Thank you, Williams,'. Quite saddened herself, she stared after him for a long moment, ignoring a sharp remark from Wrex, and left to check her vid-mail, trying to get the image of the Turian out of her mind.

There was a real reason that Wrex wasn't fond of Garrus. It wasn't because his species released the Genophage upon his own people, or that Garrus didn't seem to hold any responsibility for the event, or that the young Turian had shown him up in front of his superior various times. No, it was the fact that the Krogan actually liked the Turian, even if only a little bit. And when Wrex liked someone, it meant trouble. Similar to the his Asari 'rival', who he had surprised him at every turn and then suddenly just disappeared, was this like for the Turian. When that happened, the person who had gotten into his good graces usually disappeared clean off the galaxy. Shepard, he wasn't worried about. After all, the first human Spectre he trusted to take care, even though Wrex had proved to be this esteemed Spectre's savior on several occasions. There was another who the Krogan found himself able to tolerate on the vessel. The Quarian girl, who often stayed with that engineer fellow, chatting about the most trivial things as if they were important. The way that girl talked though, it was beyond humorous.

"Oh, Wrex! Glad to see you here--"

"I'm always down here," He had answered gruffly, a scowl upon his scarred face. The girl paid no mind to his words, and continued to speak.

"--I wanted to ask you about the Krogan vessels I've seen around sometimes," At this point in the conversation, Wrex had given her the oddest look he could summon to his features without using too much effort, and shaken his head. What had made this Quarian think he knew a damn thing about those vessels, he would never know. In truth, until she had mentioned it, he hadn't really noticed the difference between a Turian ship and a Krogan ship. Everything she said seemingly stuck with him, however. Wrex answered her with a grunt and a muttered 'Why don't you ask Shepard?', which seemed to be his answer to all of her more inquisitive questions. The young Quarian silently complied, and left to speak with Adams once more, a slight slouch in her normally perfect posture.

Wrex found a twinge of envy growing in his stomach for the Adams, who seemed to have captivated the Quarian so. At first he had been unsure as to why he felt such a thing, never having experienced it to its fullest before. When he had some up with the correct answer, he quickly dismissed the thought as mere folly, unimpressed with himself for thinking such things. He, Urdnot Wrex, could not possibly be subjected to such trivial emotions.

Williams was having similar troubles with the Turian. Often Garrus approached, and her heart pulled ahead of itself, beating faster slightly as she thought of a conversation the two of them would enjoy. It always ended the same way, however. He would walk right past her to make a call home, often not even acknowledging her. Experiencing the same feeling that Wrex was, she secretly kept the translator on, to learn just a little bit more about Garrus Vakarian. More specifically, she wanted to know if he had anyone waiting for him back at Palaven. When she found herself picking apart the Turians words, trying to hear the other Turian on the other line as well, she found herself confused, unsure of why she was doing this. A bitter envy slowly developed for whoever he spent so much time talking with.

It was a calm day, just half an hour before they were to dock for a days worth of rest at the Presidium, when Williams made a rare visit over to the Mako. It was purely on impulse, she would have told herself, had that been true. However, she was in need of a talk with the Turian that often performed his little check-ups on the vehicle. Williams frowned as she drew closer, not seeing the definite form of the Turian. Bringing herself around to the other side of the vehicle, she smiled loosely at the distinctive feet of Garrus Vakarian.

"Playing doctor again, Garrus?" A dull thud came from below the Mako, a small grunt emitting from the Turian before he pushed himself out from under the vehicle. Williams brow, furrowed once she had heard what she had presumed to be Garrus' head against the vehicle, was now straight once more. What she had learned to be a smile by Turian standards crept onto his face, and it was a struggle to keep a teensy little smirk on her lips.

"Ah, Williams! I've been meaning to tell you something..." The Turian trailed off for a moment, looking to her as if for approval. The woman simply waited for him to continue, "...I watched some old vids the other day, and I think I understand what kissing is," Oh god, the Turian really did lead a sheltered life, "but I need a more concrete aid. The vids are unreliable sometimes, and its better if I just observe an actual kiss."

"You want me to kiss something, don't you?" ...Well what an ignorant, horribly mannered, stupid, disgusting, pig of a Turian! Crossing her arms about her chest, she watched the startled Turian fumble for an answer, not giving away even a little hint that she was pleased to have been able to make him so baffled.

"That's not what I..." Oh, and she could add dishonest to the list of adjectives that described him now? "I don't want you to kiss something, Chief. One time, you were speaking to Wrex about kissing Turians," Ashley let out an exasperated exhalation.

"Garrus, that was just a--"

"Williams, I want you to kiss me."

It was now her turn to be baffled, her jaw hanging open as she stared the Turian dead in the eye, searching for any hint of joking amidst his features, all the while trying to figure out exactly how one went about kissing a Turian. Williams finally clamped her jaw shut, sure she had been looking quite foolish.

"Fine," She answered cooly, a hand closing around the large rim of his armor and pulling him down to a more acceptable height, she placed a long, steady kiss on his chin, nearly recoiling in surprise as she heard the gently purring noise the Turian created. His arms wrapped around her abdomen tightly, and he moved his head to rest upon her shoulder, nuzzling her neck lightly.

The two of them stayed together in the privacy the Mako provided until it was time to exit onto the Citadel. From there, each promptly made up their own excuse as to why they were not going to be accompanying the rest of the crew on this little field trip.

The Krogan, however, had not been able to worm his way out of taking this unneeded rest period. He was, unfortunately, dragged along with the others into the 'ridiculous waste of time'. In his mind, they could have caught up to Saren by then, and obliterated the bastard. Hell, he would have done it himself, had it not been for Shepards wishes.

It appeared Shepard even had orders for something as free form as R&R, as they were ordered to stay at least in pairs of two or three, and to meet back at the Normandy in two hours. Liara and Kaidan claimed Shepard to themselves, and Wrex watched rather unamused as the others scrambled for a 'buddy'. Only the light tap on his heavily armored shoulder alerted him to the Quarian's presence. The Krogan looked down at the nimble female, quite curious as to what she would want.

"Hello, Wrex," Ah, her usual greeting it seemed was inappropriate for this moment in time. There was no need for surprise in finding him there. "Would you visit the markets with me? I'm curious to see if Morlan has anymore armor in. ...It's hard to find armor for my people," Of course it was. Quarians didn't exactly frequent outside the Flotilla or anything. Giving a grunt in response, the Krogan lead the way without another word.

He was in truth quite familiar with the Citadel. He knew every alleyway, every single route there was to get from place to place. Which was longest and which was shortest, he simply knew. It was something that was troubling to himself, as he worried that perhaps he was spending more time looking for work these days than actually doing any, but Tali seemed to be simply amazed by the way he took a turn here and there where she would never have even thought would dump them out in the correct area. They had reached the lower markets, she claimed, in record time.

Tali had headed straight for the Salarian dealer, Nudging her way lightly to the only open space at the counter, and examining the wares to the best of her ability from her stand point. The human beside her argued relentlessly with Morlan, his hand motions growing more and more eratic. Wrex turned a blind eye, looking instead at what the other vendors had in store, ignoring any greetings they tried to give him.

It wasn't long after he had begun eyeing a particularly nice looking shotgun that he heard an alarming choking sound coming from behind him. His heavy head turned to look to the source of the commotion swiftly. His teeth bared immediately, and in two strides, he was by the Quarians side, a thick arm slinging itself around his shoulders.

"Watch what you're doing, human, or you're going to end up in some big trouble," The Krogan growled, glowering down at the man while Tali adjusted her breathing apparatus frantically. There was a feeling of satisfaction as she pushed herself just a little bit closer to him, and the human took several steps away from him, hands held out in front of him with his palms up.

"I-I didn't mean to do anything, I swear! She was just kind of there, and...Look, I really didn't mean to cause any trouble," The man looked rapidly from side to side, suddenly realizing that he would get no help from those in the lower markets. Quickening his pace, he quickly turned his back on the two of them, rushing to get away fromt the menacing Krogan.

Tali, finished fiddling with her apparatus, turned her face up to Wrex, remaining speechless for a long time. She was finally at a loss for words.

"...Thank you, Wrex. You didn't need to chase him away, but I apreciate it, all the same," The Krogan gave a nod, biting back the smile that tugged at his lips.

"Let's go. I don't think you need to come to places like this anymore," Wrex's arm tightened around her, refusing to budge one bit, "Understand?"

Tali did not answer verbally, only nodded. But Wrex got the feeling that underneath that mask of hers, the Quarian was smiling.

The two of them left the markets together, the Krogan keeping his arm around her, even though it had at first been an unconscious gesture. At least the woman didn't mind. In fact, she seemed to be rather enjoying his company. This was something new to him indeed, and he welcomed it, despite all things. They arrived back at the Normandy a full hour and twenty-two minutes early. Immediately, Wrex pulled Tali down to the cargo bay with him, taking a left turn into the engineering bay, and smugly taking the Quarian's undivided attention all for himself, right in front of Adams. 


End file.
